New phone "world's most advanced mobile computer"

 

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Posted on 2 Dec 2008 at 15:44

A new touch-screen smartphone has hit the scene, expected to finally steal the iPhone's limelight. The N97 is Nokia's new flagship handset, and the company is hailing it "the world's most advanced mobile computer".

The N97 has a 3.5in multi-touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard. It has integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass. It has a 16:9 widescreen display, and can also stream Flash videos.

The handset has 32 GB of on-board memory, and comes with a 16 GB microSD card to store extra music and movie content, and also has a 5 Megapixel camera.

Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing. It is expected to be available to buy mid-2009, at an estimated retail price of £470 sim-free, before taxes or subsidies.

"From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence," said Jonas Geust, head of Nokia Nseries.

"Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform 'the internet' into 'your internet'."

However, analysts have - so far - been a little more sceptical about the acclaim the N97 deserves.

"It tried to cram in lots of different technologies such as a touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard and plenty of memory, but it had to make trade-offs in its size and features," said CCS Insight research director, Ben Wood.

"It has ended up with a relatively thick device that lacks some of the benchmark features expected in flagship products in mid-2009," he added.

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota